Where are all the fallback disks? Constraints on propeller systems

K. Y. Ekşi*, L. Hernquist, R. Narayan

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

48 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Fallback disks are expected to form around newborn neutron stars following a supernova explosion. In almost all cases, the disk will pass through a propeller stage. If the neutron star is spinning rapidly (initial period ∼ 10 ms) and has an ordinary magnetic moment (∼1030 G cm 3), the rotational power transferred to the disk by the magnetic field of the neutron star will exceed the Eddington limit by many orders of magnitude, and the disk will be rapidly disrupted. Fallback disks can thus survive only around slow-born neutron stars and around black holes, assuming the latter do not torque their surrounding disks as strongly as do neutron stars. This might explain the apparent rarity of fallback disks around young compact objects.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)L41-L44
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume623
Issue number1 II
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Apr 2005
Externally publishedYes

Funding

We thank M. Ali Alpar and Ünal Ertan for useful discussions. This work was supported in part by NASA grant NNG04GL38G.

FundersFunder number
National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNNG04GL38G

    Keywords

    • Accretion, accretion disks
    • Pulsars: individual (SN 1987A)
    • Stars: Neutron
    • X-rays: Stars

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Where are all the fallback disks? Constraints on propeller systems'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this